Tuesday, February 25, 2014

5 Easy ways to improve your follow up after a trade show

Would you be shocked to learn that over 75% of trade show exhibiters will never fully follow up with all the leads they gather at the show.  

Why is this?  Is it because they think buyers lied to them and are not as interested as they let on?  Is it because they took poor notes or misplaced information?  Maybe they are simply lazy or overwhelmed.  

I have wondered and pondered this statistic for years.  There is really one reason and one reason only for attending a trade show, leads.  Yes, of course, branding is part of the over all goal, but leads that turn into sales is the #1 purpose of any trade show, right?  If this is true then why the disconnect?  Why do so many exibitors fall down here?  I believe planning and allocation of time is the real issue.  Having either attended or consulted on 100s of trade shows myself over the years I have seen lack of planning and time allocation result in poor trade show performance time and again.  If you are attending a trade show where you could potentially gather more than 100 leads you need to plan for and clear a certain amount of time following the show to do nothing but follow up.  

Below are 5 suggestions for a stellar follow up routine after any trade show.
  1.     Clear your schedule – Prior to the trade show beginning you must clear 2-4 days after the show ends to complete your follow up.  Many sales people either take time off or go back to their daily routines directly after a trade show.  If the trade show is 3 days you should allocate 1-2 days before for preparation and 2-3 days after for follow up.
  2.     Don’t follow up during the show – I have known sales people that feel if they follow up each night of the show they will stay on top of their leads.  Although this may be true, their follow is falling of deaf ears as their prospects are still at the show and overloaded with information.  You should always begin your follow up 2-4 days after the show ends depending on how big the show was.
  3.      Don’t stop working – Instead of spending time each night following up during the show, use this time to complete the normal work piling up in your inbox.  Doing this will allow you the time you need after the show to focus on follow up.
  4.     FOLLOW THROUGH – I cannot yell this loud enough.  If you promise something at the show you must follow through on what you said you would do, when you said you would do it.  I know this sounds like a no brainer, but I have spoken to many buyers who say sales people at a show said they would call or send samples and never did.  Don’t be one of those sales people; follow through!
  5.     Everybody counts – Don’t follow up with some and not with others.  There will always be large, small and medium sized opportunities, they all deserve to hear from you after the show.

Quick Tip: When taking business cards always write something identifying on the back of the card that will help you remember the person and what you promised to do for them.

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